Jan 20, 2014

Oh and also, uh, Merry Christmas?

What's that you say, gentle reader? You say Christmas was almost an entire month ago? I guess that's just how much of a delay we're on over here. Anyway, here's the highlight reel:

The tree went up. The tree was decorated.

As the actual holiday approached, we had a special Grown Ups Only Christmas Eve with no Gbear here, before having Family Christmas Eve, so that MC and I could give each other fun stuff like Helmut Newton books and vintage copies of Viva Magazine.

But just for fun, MC also gave me this present early too: this totally kickass vintage kids Batman tee! I've never seen the Batman logo rendered in red and yellow before. It's not really an adults only present unless you count the fact that the waist on my dance leggings is rolled so low that it looks like I'm not wearing pants.

Merry Christmas! Pants optional!When actual Family Christmas Eve finally came around, we read the 50's edition of The Night Before Christmas that we read every year and put Gbear to bed. Dork that I am, I arranged a Christmas party for Gbear's Blythe dolls, and put all dollhouse related presents under their tree.

And then Gbear, for the first time almost EVER, was TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP. This six year old who normally falls dead asleep in 10 minutes flat and who has, in the past, slept through a smoke alarm going off 5 feet from her head (not related to a real fire, but loud nonetheless) was so giddy, she danced over to the top of the stairs and then to our room (once we ourselves were in bed) no less than four times throughout the night, giggling that she was just too excited to rest.

Then morning actually came, and of course, it all seemed to go by in a happy blur. But everybody was delighted. Here was some of the aftermath:

MC gave me such amazing stocking stuffers as: an 80's Black Cat action figure, a "10" belt buckle, a new matchbox Firebird Trans Am with a love poem, an 80's pink Japanese cat eraser, a white puffy American Eskimo looking plush, and some 1989 Batman trading cards. I was LOSING MY SHIT.

He also got me a teddy bear "with my smile." :D

I filled MC's stocking with some different anise/licorice infused dark chocolate bars (which were crazy hard to track down and order -- black licorice clearly needs more public support), the absolute best licorice pastilles you can get (imho), and the single best black licorice chews ever created (not imho; indisputable fact).

I also gave MC some romantic issues of comics he'd mentioned loving but no longer had in his collection (photographed in closed session with some of the grown-up gifts mentioned above).I don't remember every present we opened up under the tree, but here's a handful of other gifts that found their way in front of a camera.

Some superhero bracelets (which I had to geri-rig to fit a six year old.)

Some X-Men "Barbies" (not officially, but same scale), which somebody was selling brand new for super cheap on Ebay just because they were no longer secured to their backing with twist ties! Trust me, it took not long at all to re-secure them with new twist ties. It's crazy the deals you can get in exchange for like 10 minutes of work!

MC and I both ended up getting each other shoes! The ones he got me are total sex-pot, boudoir shoes -- I LOVE them. I actually got him 2 different sized pairs of vintage 70's Vasque hiking boots because I heard they run narrow. So I'm selling the pair that didn't fit on Etsy, in case you're interested (or in case you see these listed in my store and you're like "Oh snap, MC's selling his Christmas present!"). Also pictured is the P.E.E.T., which I gave MC.The three of us also went to visit MC's parents:

Gbear and her cousin Maddie happily crowd their Papa.

My sis in law Alessandra finds the decoration we used instead of a bow on her gifts.

And then we visited my parents.

Gbear and Gram explore one of the seriously like 20 craft/art/activity sets they gave her.

In addition to everything else they spoiled us with, my folks got Gbear an art easel.

This is how Gbear decided to christen her new easel. I kid you not. Her dad and I assembled it while she was right by us, but totally distracted with her action figures. We finished up, I went to find some tape for an unrelated task, and when I walked back into the room, she was standing there with this sweet smile, proud of her work. :)It was easy to fill the days of winter break with all these awesome activities her grandparents had gifted her with.

Gbear paints a mask from a kit she got from Gram and Pop.

Gbear plots the overthrow of the free world (with moral support from Chi) with a Lego set she got from Nana and Papa.

Okay, I think that's just about everything. Here's a parting shot of MC on Christmas morning: a damn handsome man with the good sense to run a wet comb through his hair before he came downstairs. ;)

It's never to late to recap the highlights of a past day, especially one that just transpired about a month ago. What a beautiful Christmas you had! So teaming with the elements that help make this day the memorable and very lovely affair we all hope it will prove to be.

Here's to the hope that all of 2014 is every bit as fun filled, joyful and memorable as this holiday season was for you, dear Cammila.

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Dressed Up Like a Lady is maintained by Mattmilla, an Ypsilanti based husband and wife blogging team comprised of pink haired Cammila Collar (formerly Cammila Albertson) and James Dean-esque Matt Collar. The Collars work for Rovi Corporation reviewing movies and music, respectively. MC plays trumpet and guitar and Cammila sings in the dancerock band The Trojan War. Collars ltd